Friday, August 24, 2012
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1:20 PM

Posted by Ariel Levine, Google Play Operations Specialist

Thanks to everyone who’s been a loyal reader of the Google Books Search blog over the years. As part of an effort to simplify our communications channels, we’re retiring this blog and moving on over to the official Google Inside Search Blog. We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation about Google Books search there.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012
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1:59 PM

posted by Cheryl Pon, Google Books Strategist

“If you happen to have talent and are a good craftsman, you could really [make] extraordinary food with a bit of love.” - Jacques Pépin

As a child, I grew up with inspiring classic TV programs featuring chefs like Julia Child, Martin Yan, and of course, Jacques Pépin, the award-winning French chef. With great fascination, I would watch him on his hit show, Jacques Pépin: Fast Food My Way, as he prepared cuisines like sautéed rabbit with morels and pearl onions, and tartelettes aux fruits. His beautifully presented dishes were the epitome of classic French homestyle cooking with just the right amount of panache.

Pépin came to Google recently to discuss his latest book, Essential Pépin, which encompasses all the recipes from his expansive career as a French chef. Not only does the thick cookbook contain a trove of recipes, but a DVD containing techniques Pépin recommends for cooking, such as perfecting your knife technique and the best way to flip an omelette — all signature styles that are best viewed rather than read.

During his talk here, Pépin advised that rather than leave a good recipe the way it is, he wanted to keep going deeper with exploring more ways in which a recipe could improve. But although his recipes are constantly evolving, and are now quite different than they were 25 years ago due to constant improvements over the years, Pépin's cooking techniques are the same.

From a man who turned down cooking for the Kennedys in order to cook at Howard Johnson’s, Essential Pépin is cooking through the master chef's eyes, and preparing food with an appreciation for and a sense of aesthetics.

Thursday, April 05, 2012
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8:00 AM

With the launch of Google eBooks in 2010, we introduced a multi-faceted approach to selling ebooks: online, on devices, through affiliates and through resellers. One part of that effort -- the reseller program -- has not gained the traction that we hoped it would, so we have made the difficult decision to discontinue it by the end of January next year.

This change will help us focus on building the best ebooks experience we can across hundreds of devices with millions of books. Books will continue to be a major content pillar alongside apps, music and movies in the Google Play store. And -- regardless of where they bought them -- customers will still be able to access and read their ebooks on the web, phones, tablets and compatible eReaders.

We will work closely with our sixteen reseller partners as they transition in the coming months. Also, booksellers will still be highlighted in the “Buy this book” section of Google Book search, supported with our affiliate program and have access to free Books APIs.

Looking at the results to-date, it’s clear that the reseller program has not met the needs of many readers or booksellers. While our role as an ebooks wholesaler to booksellers will be coming to a close next year, we remain as committed as ever to making the eBooks experience from Google the best it can be for readers around the world.
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Tuesday, March 13, 2012
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2:23 PM

Posted by Anne Bartholomew, Merchandising Manager, Books on Google Play

Anne Rice laid the foundations in so many ways for authors writing paranormal fiction today, and much of her early work still stands out for me as the turn-to books when it comes to creatures of the night. The Wolf Gift is no exception, and it does, as the Wall Street Journal noted, bring "vintage Anne Rice" to mind as it grapples with a "gothic, violent, gory, metaphysical" voyage into the supernatural. Watch our full Q&A with her (also available on our our YouTube channel.)

Some of the best moments from the talk included her reflections on today's popular paranormalists. Anne noted that she enjoys how writers today are "domesticating" vampires, and realizes it's a path her own vampires would never have taken. She also reveals her inspiration for the houses in her books. She built The Wolf Gift's opulent Nideck Point estate "block by block, floorboard by floorboard" with memories of the wonderful houses she's lived in, and with her admiration for great fictional houses in mind (like Rochester's in Jane Eyre and Miss Havisham's in Great Expectations).

Tuesday, March 06, 2012
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10:36 AM

Posted by Scott Dougall, Director, Product Management

Starting today Google eBooks will be available on Google Play - a new place to experience books, music, movies, and Android apps and games, available anywhere you go. For users of our Google Book Search platform, we are excited to offer this seamless way to purchase and enjoy the eBooks you’ve discovered. With over 4 million titles, Google Play is your home for the world’s largest selection of eBooks. Beyond books, Google Play lets you store up to 20,000 songs for free and buy millions of new songs. It’s home to 450,000 Android apps and games and gives you access to thousands of your favorite movies for rent, including new releases and HD titles.

Before becoming an acclaimed author, Susan practiced corporate law for seven years and then worked as a negotiations consultant. Her list of clients includes well-known firms like JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, One Hundred Women in Hedge Funds and many more. However, far from being the self-confident person that her career might make her appear to be, Susan declares herself an introvert. She prefers listening to talking and reading to socializing. Watch her presentation at Google here:

Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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12:34 PM

Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

This one day special is now over.
Forget the chocolate and flowers this Valentine’s Day. The rush of new brooding love can be all yours with our special offer on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight eBook. Seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan moves to a new town in the wilds of the Olympic Peninsula, and her life changes completely when she meets Edward Cullen, the most attractive guy at her high school. But Edward has a deep, supernatural secret, and his love, though pure and true, threatens her very existence. The angsty affection of Twilight spawned a whole new genre of paranormal romance when it was released and the series continues to lead the bestseller lists today. Treat yourself to this guilty pleasure with the first book in the series - Twilight, today for only $2.99. This offer is good for readers within the United States and Canada, through midnight EST today, 2/14/12.
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The Wolf Gift is a richly imagined story of a man turned wolf trying to figure out what his new reality means--all while trying to stay one step ahead of the people desperate to hunt him down. With this novel, Anne Rice makes an intriguing return to the gothic world her fans know and love, set this time not in her native New Orleans but along California's haunting mist-shrouded coast. Both searching and suspenseful, it’s a gripping exploration of a man both delighted and tormented by a life he could never have anticipated.

The talk will be live streamed on the Authors@Google YouTube channel, and there will be some time for fan questions. If you’d like to submit a question for consideration please visit our Google Moderator page for the event. We look forward to you joining us as we discuss the depths of this supernatural tale.

Submit your questions for Anne Rice: Click on this Google Moderator page to submit your questions and vote on other fans’ questions. We will select some of the most popular questions to ask Anne Rice during the talk. The Google Moderator page is open from now until February 23rd, 12PM PT.

Watch the live YouTube broadcast: On Friday, February 24th, at 10AM PT, Anne Rice’s interview will be broadcast live from the Authors@Google YouTube channel, youtube.com/atgoogletalks. The talk will last 30-45 minutes. We'll also post the recorded interview on this page afterwards.

Monday, February 06, 2012
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9:00 PM

Posted by Ariel Levine, Google eBooks Associate

Today marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birthday (born February 7, 1812). To celebrate the life and work of one of the world's greatest storytellers, the Google doodle team created this fantastic celebratory doodle for our home page:

In addition, our Google Books editorial team curated a collection of free and featured Dickens classics available in the Google eBookstore in Dickens' native land (United Kingdom) and some Commonwealth countries (Canada, Australia) as well as the US -- a relatively new nation that Dickens himself visited in 1842 and 1867.

As anyone who has read a Dickens novel can attest, they are full of memorable characters, realism, humor, lyricism, and social commentary. He is considered one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era, and responsible for some of the most iconic stories in English literature. Contemplating Dickens’ diversity of characters and themes, I wondered how the artist who created the Dickens doodle, Mike Dutton, handled the challenge.Read the full post7
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Friday, February 03, 2012
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9:52 AM

What exactly did renowned U.S. writer and art collector Gertrude Stein mean when she said “there is no there there” about Oakland, California? In honor of Gertrude Stein’s 138th birthday today, we explore the meaning of this oft-quoted phrase.

In fall 2011, I attended the SF Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit of Stein’s groundbreaking Paris art collection. At the exhibit, a small display about her childhood in Oakland, California, sparked my interest. I was born in Oakland, and I’m currently writing a book about Oakland. I wondered what it was like for Gertrude Stein growing up there in the 1880s. I purchased The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas from the Google eBookstore to read about Stein’s experiences in Paris and San Francisco with her companion, Alice Toklas. The more I read by Stein and saw how she plays with language, the more I wondered about the meaning of her “no there there” quote.